List insertion in test segments with non-naturally aligned data boundaries

ABSTRACT

A processor memory is stress tested with a variable list insertion depth using list insertion test segments with non-naturally aligned data boundaries. List insertion test segments are interspersed into test code of a processor memory tests to change the list insertion depth without changing results of the test code. The list insertion test segments are the same structure as the segments of the test code and have non-naturally aligned boundaries. The list insertion test segments include list insertion segments and load/store segments. The list insertion segments locate a current memory location using a fixed segment at a known location. The load/store segments load and store list elements in memory.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure generally relates to computer hardware testing anddevelopment, and more specifically relates to a system and method forlist insertion of test segments with non-naturally aligned databoundaries into a processor memory.

Processor testing tools attempt to generate the most stressful test casefor a processor. In theory, the generated test case should providemaximum test coverage and should be able to stress various timingscenarios and operations on the processor, including the coherency ofcache memory. Coherency in the cache memory involves insuring thatchanges to data in the cache are accurately reflected to main memory tokeep the data consistent. Building test cases to thoroughly test aprocessor can be extremely costly in time and resources, thus buildingefficient test cases is an important goal of processor testing.

Many processors have restrictions on alignment for memory operations.For example, some Power processors allow different alignment boundariesin memory for different instructions while in different modes like CacheInhibited, Little Endian etc. With these complexities on boundaryrestrictions, it's very difficult to generate test cases for thedifferent alignment boundaries for each of the instructions. Moreover,testing all valid boundaries for an instruction is very important andmultiple test cases for multiple boundaries would have the overhead ofgeneration and simulation in case of reference model checking. Test casegeneration can be extremely labor intensive to test the differentalignment boundaries while preserving boundaries where needed.

SUMMARY

A system, method and/or computer program product for testing a computerprocessor is disclosed. An apparatus for testing a computer processorhaving a plurality of registers includes a test case generator thatcreates test cases with test code for testing the computer processor, atest case executor that replicates the test code and loads thereplicated test code into non-naturally aligned segments of consecutivememory locations on the computer processor, and a load-store unit thatloads and stores data in the memory locations and loads and stores datain the plurality of registers. The test case executor further adds oneor more list insertion test segments and each list insertion testsegment comprises a list insertion segment and a load/store segment. Thelist insertion test segments are interspersed in the test code innon-naturally aligned segments that insert a list element into at leastone of a plurality of list element locations using a fixed segmentstored at a fixed location on the computer processor.

The method utilizes test code inserted in a plurality of memory segmentswith non-naturally aligned boundaries. Non-naturally aligned means thatthe ends of the segments when placed end-to-end with another segment donot fall on a natural boundary that is a number of the form 2n. The testcode with the non-naturally aligned segments may have seven words oftest code comprising one single word sub-segment, one double wordsub-segment and one quad word sub-segment. A plurality of list insertiontest segments that have non-naturally aligned boundaries areinterspersed into the test code segments. The list insertion testsegments comprise at least one list insertion segment and at least oneload/store segments. The list insertion test segments may also comprisea checking segment. Each list insertion segment branches to a fixedsegment that determines a first list element location and that includesa second list element location. Each load/store segment that loads alist element stored in the second list element location, stores the listelement in the first list element location. The test code is executedwith the interspersed list insertion test segments to insert a listelement into at least one of a plurality of list element locations usinga fixed segment stored at a fixed location on the computer processor.

The method determines a second list element location by storing anaddress to a next consecutive memory location contained in a linkregister of the computer processor into one of a plurality of generalpurpose registers of the computer processor. The method continues bybranching to the fixed segment, storing an address to the first listelement location contained in the link register into a second of theplurality of general purpose registers, and calculating an address to areturn memory location consecutive to the first list element locationand storing the return memory location to the link register. The methodbranches to the return memory location and restores the address to thenext consecutive memory location to the link register.

The load/store segment includes instructions that add list elements to alinked list. A list element stored in the second list element locationis loaded from memory into one of the plurality of general purposeregisters, and the list element in this register is stored the listelement into the first list element location. Write access to the secondlist element location is prohibited and it is determined whether anotherprocess attempts to write to the second list element location afterwrite access has been prohibited. If another process has attempted towrite to the list element after write access has been prohibited, thesteps of loading from memory the list element, prohibiting write accessto the second list element location, and determining whether anotherprocess attempts to write to the second list element location arerepeated until no process attempts to write to the second list elementlocation after write access has been prohibited. If no process hasattempted to write to the second list element location after writeaccess has been prohibited, write access to the second list elementlocation is enabled and the address to the first list element locationis stored into the second list element location.

The checking segment may include instructions that initialize and run acounter loop to check that the linked list has been inserted correctly.The checking segment may operate, for example, by checking the contentof a memory address stored in a general purpose register that points tothe last item inserted in a linked list. The checking segment may loadthe content of the memory location pointed to in each successive listitem until the beginning of the list is reached. A parent list elementmay have an initial value of 0. Once the content of the general purposeregister is zero, the checking segment confirms the list insertion testsegments have executed correctly.

The foregoing and other features and advantages will be apparent fromthe following more particular description, as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The various aspects, features and embodiments of the memory system,architectural structure and its method of operation will be betterunderstood when read in conjunction with the figures provided.Embodiments are provided in the figures for the purpose of illustratingaspects, features and/or various embodiments of the memory system,architectural structure and method of operation, but the claims shouldnot be limited to the precise arrangement, structures, features,aspects, embodiments or devices shown, and the arrangements, structures,subassemblies, features, aspects, embodiments, methods, and devicesshown may be used singularly or in combination with other arrangements,structures, subassemblies, features, aspects, embodiments, methods anddevices.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram a computer system with a test case generatoras described herein to generate test code and place it in segments of adata cache with non-naturally aligned data boundaries;

FIG. 2 illustrates simplified block diagrams of a system for testing aprocessor with test code and list insertion test segments placed insegments of a cache with non-naturally aligned data boundaries;

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram of a memory cache system in aprocessor with test code and test data placed in different cache linesin a level two memory cache;

FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram of a memory cache system in aprocessor with test code and test data placed in the same cache lines ina level two memory cache;

FIG. 5 illustrates successive slices of replicated test code and testdata stored in a memory cache with non-naturally aligned databoundaries.

FIG. 6 further illustrates the test code segments in FIG. 5 havingnon-naturally aligned data boundaries.

FIG. 7 illustrates a portion of the memory cache shown in FIG. 5 with astrand of memory shown as a single block.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a fixed code segment that resides in aknown, fixed location.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a list insertion code segment.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a load/store code segment.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a checking code segment.

FIG. 12 illustrates strands of memory containing the test code segmentsin FIGS. 8, 9, 10, and 11.

FIG. 13 illustrates strands of memory containing the test code segmentsin FIGS. 8, 9, 10, and 11 including multiple copies of test codesegments.

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of a method for stress testing a processormemory cache using list insertion test segments with non-naturallyaligned data boundaries.

FIGS. 15A-B are a flow diagram of a specific method for step 1430.

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram of a specific method for step 1440.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description is made for illustrating the generalprinciples of the invention and is not meant to limit the inventiveconcepts claimed herein. In the following detailed description, numerousdetails are set forth in order to provide an understanding of the memorysystem, architectural structure and method of operation, however, itwill be understood by those skilled in the art that different andnumerous embodiments of the memory system, architectural structure andmethod of operation may be practiced without those specific details, andthe claims and invention should not be limited to the embodiments,subassemblies, features, processes, methods, aspects, features ofdetails specifically described and shown herein. Further, particularfeatures described herein can be used in combination with otherdescribed features in each of the various possible combinations andpermutations.

Unless otherwise specifically defined herein, all terms are to be giventheir broadest possible interpretation including meanings implied fromthe specification as well as meanings understood by those skilled in theart and/or as defined in dictionaries, treatises, etc. It must also benoted that, as used in the specification and the appended claims, thesingular forms “a,” “an” and “the” include plural referents unlessotherwise specified.

The disclosure and claims herein relate to a system and method forstress testing a processor memory using list insertion test segmentswith non-naturally aligned data boundaries. List insertion test segmentsare interspersed into test code of processor memory tests to change thelist insertion depth without changing results of the test code. The listinsertion test segments are the same structure as the segments of thetest cases and also have non-naturally aligned boundaries. The listinsertion test segments include a list insertion segment and aload/store segment. A fixed segment may be located at a suitable knownlocation in memory and maybe outside the strand of memory. In someembodiments, the list insertion segment may branch to the fix segment toobtain an address of one or more list element locations in memory andthe load/store segment may perform a series of memory operations toinsert list elements into the list element locations determined by thelist insertion and fixed segments. Optionally, the list insertion testsegments may also include a checking segment that confirms properoperation of the list insertion and load/store segments.

Referring to FIG. 1, a computer system 100 is one suitableimplementation of a computer system that is capable of performing thecomputer operations described herein including a test case generator forgenerating test cases for stress testing a processor memory and/or atest case executor as described herein. Computer system 100 is acomputer which can run multiple operating systems including the IBM ioperating system. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate thatthe disclosure herein applies equally to any computer system, regardlessof whether the computer system is a complicated multi-user computingapparatus, a single user workstation, laptop, phone or an embeddedcontrol system. As shown in FIG. 1, computer system 100 comprises one ormore processors 110. The computer system 100 further includes a mainmemory 120, a mass storage interface 130, a display interface 140, and anetwork interface 150. These system components are interconnectedthrough the use of a system bus 160. Mass storage interface 130 is usedto connect mass storage devices with a computer readable medium, such asmass storage 155, to computer system 100. One specific type of massstorage 155 is a readable and writable CD-RW drive, which may store datato and read data from a CD-RW 195. Some mass storage devices may have aremovable memory card or similar instead of the CD-RW drive.

Main memory 120 preferably contains an operating system 121. Operatingsystem 121 is a multitasking operating system known in the industry asIBM i; however, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the spiritand scope of this disclosure is not limited to any one operating system.The memory 120 further includes data 122 and a test case generator 123.The memory 120 also includes test code 124 and test data 125 which istypically created by the test case generator 123. The memory alsoincludes list insertion test segments 126 for testing the memory withdifferent list insertion scenarios as described herein.

Computer system 100 utilizes well known virtual addressing mechanismsthat allow the programs of computer system 100 to behave as if they onlyhave access to a large, single storage entity instead of access tomultiple, smaller storage entities such as main memory 120 and massstorage 155. Therefore, while operating system 121, data 122, test casegenerator 123, test code 124, test data 125 and list insertion testsegments 126 are shown to reside in main memory 120, those skilled inthe art will recognize that these items are not necessarily allcompletely contained in main memory 120 at the same time. It should alsobe noted that the term “memory” is used herein generically to refer tothe entire virtual memory of computer system 100, and may include thevirtual memory of other computer systems coupled to computer system 100.

Processor 110 may be constructed from one or more microprocessors and/orintegrated circuits. Processor 110 executes program instructions storedin main memory 120. Main memory 120 stores programs and data thatprocessor 110 may access. When computer system 100 starts up, processor110 initially executes the program instructions that make up operatingsystem 121 and later executes the program instructions that make up thetest case generator 123 to generate the test code 124 and the test data125 as directed by a user.

Although computer system 100 is shown to contain only a single processorand a single system bus, those skilled in the art will appreciate thatthe system may be practiced using a computer system that has multipleprocessors and/or multiple buses. In addition, the interfaces that areused preferably each include separate, fully programmed microprocessorsthat are used to off-load compute-intensive processing from processor110. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that thesefunctions may be performed using I/O adapters as well.

Display interface 140 is used to directly connect one or more displays165 to computer system 100. These displays 165, which may benon-intelligent (i.e., dumb) terminals or fully programmableworkstations, are used to provide system administrators and users theability to communicate with computer system 100. Note, however, thatwhile display interface 140 is provided to support communication withone or more displays 165, computer system 100 does not necessarilyrequire a display 165, because all needed interaction with users andother processes may occur via network interface 150, e.g. web clientbased users.

Network interface 150 is used to connect computer system 100 to othercomputer systems or workstations 175 via network 170. Network interface150 broadly represents any suitable way to interconnect electronicdevices, regardless of whether the network 170 comprises present-dayanalog and/or digital techniques or via some networking mechanism of thefuture. In addition, many different network protocols can be used toimplement a network. These protocols are specialized computer programsthat allow computers to communicate across a network. TCP/IP(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is an example of asuitable network protocol.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product at any possible technical detail level of integration.The computer program product may include a computer readable storagemedium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereonfor causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations maybe assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA)instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions,microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, configuration datafor integrated circuitry, or either source code or object code writtenin any combination of one or more programming languages, including anobject oriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++, or thelike, and procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programminglanguage or similar programming languages. The computer readable programinstructions may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on theuser's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user'scomputer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remotecomputer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may beconnected to the user's computer through any type of network, includinga local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or theconnection may be made to an external computer (for example, through theInternet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments,electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logiccircuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logicarrays (PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions byutilizing state information of the computer readable programinstructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order toperform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the system, method and/or computer program product aredescribed herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or blockdiagrams of embodiments of methods, apparatus (systems), and computerprogram products. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce acomputer-implemented process, such that the instructions which executeon the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implementthe functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of theorder noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a system 200 forreducing the time needed to generate test cases for testing a processorby replicating test code and test data and placing slices of the testcode and test data into a memory cache where the slices of thereplicated test code and test data have non-naturally aligned databoundaries. A user 210 or an operator uses the test case generator 123to provide tests cases 212 to a test case executor 214. The test casegenerator 123 and the test case executor 214 operate in a manner similarto the prior art except as described herein. The test cases 212 includetest code 124 and test data 125. The test case executor 214 loads thetest code 124, test data 124 and the list insertion test segments 126into a processor 216 to verify and validate the processor design.

Again referring to FIG. 2, the processor 216 has a typical cache designwith one or more caches. In the illustrated example, the processor 216has a split L1 cache 218 and a unified L2 cache 220. The split L1 cache218 means the L1 cache 218 is split between an L1 instruction cache 218Aand an L1 data cache 218B. When instructions and data are needed by theprocessor, the processor first looks to the L1 cache 218 to load theinstructions and data. If the needed instructions and data are not inthe L1 cache 218, then the L2 cache is searched for the neededinstructions and data and loaded into the L1 cache from the L2 cache ifavailable. If the needed instructions and data are not in the L2 cache,then they are loaded from main memory. Alternatively an additional levelof cache (L3 cache) can be used but is not shown here for simplicity.The test code 124 and test data 125 are loaded into the L2 cache 220 andthen to the L1 cache 218 as described further below. The test caseexecutor 214 replicates the test code 124, placing multiple copies ofthe test code into the L2 cache 220, and then the test code is executedby the processor to test proper handling of data coherency as describedfurther below. The test case executor 214 may also replicate the testdata 125 into the L2 cache 220. The processor 216 further includes aload-store unit 222 or call return stack that can be used to predict atarget address of a branch to improve performance.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of loading the L1 cache 218 from the L2cache 220 of the processor 216 (shown in FIG. 2) where the test code andtest data are initially placed in different cache lines in the L2 memorycache. In this example, the L1 instruction cache 218A has a singleinstruction cache line 312. Similarly, the L1 data instruction cache218B has a single data cache line 314. Those of ordinary skill in theart will recognize that processors may have multiple cache lines in theinstruction cache and the data cache. In such a case, the operationwould be similar to the described example. In this example, the testcode 124 was initially loaded into cache line1 316. When test code 124is requested by the L1 instruction cache 218A, the L2 cache 220 providesa cache line containing the requested test code, in this case test code124 from cache line1 316. Similarly, the test data 125 was initiallyloaded into cache line2 318. When test data 125 is requested by the L1data cache 218B, the L2 cache 220 provides a cache line containing thetest data 125 from cache line2 318. If the test code makes changes tothe test code 124 in the instruction cache line 312 or makes changes tothe test data 125 in the data cache line 314 then these changes need tobe pushed back to the L2 cache 220 in a manner known in the prior art.Since the test code 124 and the test data 125 are on different cachelines, this example illustrates the simple case of maintaining memorycoherency between the L1 and L2 caches. If the processor or test codedetects an error in data coherency between the caches or main memory,the processor being tested can be flagged as having a potential memoryfailure in a manner known in the prior art.

FIG. 4 illustrates another example of loading the L1 cache 218 from theL2 cache 220 of the processor 216 (shown in FIG. 2). In this example,the test code and test data are initially placed in the same cache linein the L2 memory cache. As in the previous example, the L1 instructioncache 218A and the L1 data instruction cache 218B each have a singlecache line. In this example, the test code 124 was initially loaded intocache line1 316. When test code 124 is requested by the L1 instructioncache 218A, the L2 cache 220 provides the test code 124 from cache line1316. The test data 125 was initially loaded into the same cache line1316. When test data 125 is requested by the L1 data cache 218B, the L2cache 220 provides the test data 125 from cache line1 316. If the testcode makes changes to the test code 124 in the instruction cache line312, or if the test code makes changes to the test data 125 in the datacache line 314 then these changes need to be reflected in the L1 cacheand pushed back to the L2 cache 220. This example illustrates the caseof maintaining memory coherency between the L1 and L2 caches where testcode 124 and the test data 125 are loaded into the L1 cache 218 from thesame cache lines in the L2 cache 220.

FIG. 5 illustrates additional detail of successive slices of the L2memory cache with replicated test cases (tc0-1, tc1-1, etc.) placed insegments of memory with non-naturally aligned data boundaries. Thus,FIG. 5 represents a simplified representation of a portion of the level2 cache 220 introduced above. In the illustrated example, the cache 220illustrates four replicated slices 510 that can contain test code ortest data (described further below). The table 512 above the cache dataillustrates how the cache lines of the cache are divided. A cache linein the cache is divided into eight quad words 514. The quad words 514are labeled QW0 through QW7. Each quad word 514 is divided into twodouble words 516. The double words for each quad word are labeled DW0and DW1. Each double word 516 is further divided into two words 518 (notlabeled). In this example, each word is four bytes of memory space. Thuseach cache line has eight quad words with 128 bytes of memory. Thus thelevel 2 cache 220 is divided into lines of memory 520 with 128 bytes ineach line. In the illustrated portion of level 2 cache 220 shown in FIG.5, lines 1-9 and 27-35 are shown with the line number 520 shown for eachline at the left side of the drawing.

Again referring to FIG. 5, the memory represented in the level 2 cache220 is divided into slices 510 as shown. For simplification of thedrawing, only four slices of the memory cache are actually shown. Slices3 through 6 are omitted from the drawing but follow the same pattern asthe other slices. Slice1 510A begins on line1 of the cache and ends nearthe middle of line 5. Line 5 is shown twice at the left of the drawings.This is done for illustration so that it can be clearly seen whereslice1 510A ends and slice2 510B begins. In the cache there is actuallyonly one line of memory designated as line 5. Slice2 510B begins at theend of slice1 510A near the middle of line 5 and ends near the end ofline 9. Slice7 510C begins at the end of slice6 (not shown) near themiddle of line 27 and ends near the end of line 31. Slice8 510D beginsat the end of slice7 510C near the middle of line 31 and ends at the endof line 35.

Again referring to FIG. 5, each slice of memory 510 includes severalstrands of test cases. In this example, there are five strands of testcases (tc0 through tc4) divided into four segments each. The segments ofeach strand are shown with the same shading in FIG. 5. The segment ofthe strand is indicated by the number after the dash. Thus tc0-1 522 isthe first segment of test case zero, tc1-1 524 is the first segment oftest case one, tc2-1 526 is the first segment of test case 2, tc3-1 528is the first segment of test case 3 and tc4-1 530 is the first segmentof test case four. Test case zero (tc0) includes tc0-1, tc0-2, tc0-3 andtc0-4. Similarly the other test case strands include four segments. Ascan be seen using the table 512 above the cache, each of the segmentshas a test case that is seven words long. It is important to note thatthe seven word length of the segments means that each of the test casesare on non-naturally aligned word boundaries. Non-naturally alignedmeans that when the segments of the test cases are placed end-to-end theend of the segments does not fall on a natural boundary that is a numberof the form 2^(n). This is accomplished by having segments with an oddnumber of words. In this example this means that the beginning and endof each of the test case segments does not line up with 32 byte, cacheline (128 byte) and page crossing boundaries. For example, the pagecrossing boundary 532 is within the test case tc1-1 at the boundarybetween line 31 and line 32 as shown in FIG. 5. Since the segments arenon-naturally aligned, after replication alignment boundaries change fortests on subsequent segments to allow more robust testing of theprocessor using the same repeated test code. In cases where alignmentboundaries need to be respected for a few instructions, theseinstructions are placed in sub-segments with special alignment locationsso that they preserve alignment even after replication and re-executionon new segments as described below.

FIG. 6 further illustrates a portion of the memory cache shown in FIG. 5having test cases with test code and test data on non-naturally aligneddata boundaries. FIG. 6 illustrates the first two strands of the fivestrands of test cases shown in FIG. 5, namely tc0 610 and tc1 612. Testcase zero (tc0) 610 includes four segments 610A, 610B, 610C and 610D.Similarly, test case one (tc1) 612 includes four segments 612A, 612B,612C and 612D. As described above, each segment of the cache has a testcase that is seven words long. The test case segment is divided intothree sub-segments. In this example, the sub-segments include a quadword, a double word and a single word for a total of seven words. Theorder of the sub-segments changes for each segment in the test casestrand in order that the test cases within the strings can observe wordboundaries where needed. The first segment 610A of test case zero (tc0)has a quad word followed by a word and then a double word. In the nextsegment of tc0 610B there is a word, a quad word and then a double word.In the next segment of tc0 610C there is a double word, a quad word andthen a single word. In the final segment of tc0 610D there is a singleword, a double word and then the quad word. Similarly the tc alternatesthe single word, double word and quad word in subsequent segments asshown in 612A, 612B, 612C and 612D.

In the example described above, each segment of the test cases has sevenwords to insure that the test case data has non-naturally aligned databoundaries. By having non-naturally aligned data boundaries for eachsegment of the slice of test data, testing can be done on the replicatedtest cases to test various boundaries. These boundaries include 32 byteboundaries, cache line boundaries (128 bytes) and page crossingboundaries. The test case segment is divided into sub-segments of word,double word and quad word and the order of the sub-segments changes foreach segment in the test case strand. Dividing into sub-segments andchanging of the order of the sub-segments insures that the data for testcases within the sub-strings can observe and preserve double word andquad word boundaries where needed. Using non-naturally aligned databoundaries with replicated code insures that all types of segments willcross the boundaries at some replication of the test data. This allowstesting of the boundaries without using special code to look at therestrictions of a particular segment for each of the boundaries.

The examples described above illustrate a preferred test case segmentwith 7 words to achieve non-naturally aligned data boundaries. Othernon-naturally aligned data boundaries could include other odd numberssuch as 5, 9, 11, etc. A combination of word, double word and quad wordcould be chosen as sub-segments for these segments similar to thedescribed example. For example, for a segment with 9 words, a quad word,two double words and a word would achieve the correct number ofsub-segments for 9 words. The sub-segments could be changed for eachsegment in a strand as described above for the 7 word example.

FIG. 7 illustrates a portion of the memory cache shown in FIG. 5. Thememory shown in FIG. 7 is a sequence of segments or a strand of memory700 shown as a single block. The strand of memory 700 may be modified toinclude list insertion scenarios to stress test memory and the listinsertion as described herein. In this example, the strand of memory 700includes the strand segments 610 described in FIG. 6. Each of thesegments in this example includes seven words of memory. Segment 610Aincludes seven words of memory a1 through a7. Similarly, segments 610B,610C and 610D each include seven words of memory. Additional segmentslabeled as e, f, g, h, and i are also shown in the strand 700. Thesesegments are not consecutive memory locations, but are shown here as ablock of memory that are logically in the strand and used for testingthe cache memory of the processor 216 (FIG. 2). In this example, eachsegment 610 of the strand 700 is loaded with a test case for testingmemory by the test case executor 214 as described above. In addition,the test case executor 214 may load list insertion test blocks into thestrand 700 as described below.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a fixed segment 800. The fixed segment800 is a single segment. In the illustrated examples, the segments eachhave seven words with data or instructions. The fixed segment 800 servesto determine the location of a list element location in another segmentof memory. In this case, the fixed segment 800 determines the locationof a child pointer in a list insertion segment that branches to thefixed segment, for example list insertion segment 900 discussed below inreference to FIG. 9. The first instruction in fixed segment 800, “mfLRr3” 810, moves the contents of the link register to general purposeregister (“GPR”) r3. A link register in the processor holds returnaddress which is equal to the next consecutive memory location after thelocation of any branch and/or link instruction that was most recentlyexecuted. For example, after the execution of the instruction in memorylocation 912, the link register contains an address pointing to memorylocation 914. Saving the link register into GPRs at certain timesenables a process to return to the next instruction after branching tovarious other locations and execute instructions at those locations. Inthis example, the link register points to the child list elementlocation 914, as explained in further detail below in reference to FIG.9. The next instruction, “addi r4, r3,4” 812, adds a value of four tothe address stored in r3 and stores the result in GPR r4. In thisexample, register r4 points to memory location 916 of FIG. 9 after theexecution of the addi instruction. The next instruction, “mtLR r4” 814,moves the contents of GPR r4, e.g. an address for memory location 916,to the link register. The next instruction, “blrl” 816, branches to theaddress stored in the link register. In this example, when the blrlinstruction is executed, the processor branches to memory location 916to which the address currently in the link register points. Alsoincluded in fixed segment 800 is parent list element memory location818. In this example, the parent list element memory location holds aninitial value of zero. Also included in fixed segment 800 are one ormore speculative instructions 820 which are, in this example, notexecuted during list insertion.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a list insertion segment 900. Listinsertion segment 900 includes instructions that branch to fixed segment800 as well as memory locations for the storage of list elements. Thefirst instruction of list insertion segment 900, “mfLR r5” 910, movesthe contents of the link register to GPR r5. The next instruction,“bcl_ea” 912, branches to a fixed location elsewhere in the computerprocessor memory that corresponds to the location of fixed segment 800.In this example, bcl_ea 912 is a subroutine call that branches to memorylocation 810 for execution of instructions stored in fixed segment 800,described in more detail above in reference to FIG. 8. The next memorylocation, child list element location 914, stores the child list elementdescribed above. The child list element contains a pointer to the nextnode in the link list that is being inserted into memory. Afterbranching to fixed segment 800, in this example, the link registerpoints to child list element location 914 because it is the next memorylocation following the subroutine call that branches to fixed segment800. As discussed above, the pointer stored in the link register isstored in GPR r3. After the fixed segment branches back to memorylocation 916, as discussed above, the link register contains an addresspointing to parent list element location 818. The next instruction,“mfLR r4” 916, moves the contents of the link register into GPR r4,which now contains the address of parent list element location 818. Thenext instruction, “mtLR r5” 918, returns the contents of GPR r5 to thelink register for execution. The next instruction, “bc+116” 920,branches to the beginning of the next test code segment, in this case,the beginning of the load/store segment 1000 discussed in more detailbelow in reference to FIG. 10.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a load store segment 1000. Theload/store segment 1000 performs a memory read/write operation to inserta list element into a list memory location. The first instruction in theload/store segment 1000, “lwarx r5, r0, r4” 1010 is a “load word andreserve indexed” instruction that loads the content of the memorylocation addressed by the pointer stored in GPR r4 and stores it in GPRr5. In this case r4 points to the parent list element location 818, asdiscussed above. The lwarx instruction also reserves the memorylocation, in this example parent list element location 818, to prohibitwrites into the memory location until the reservation is released. Thenext instruction, “stw r5, 0(r3)” 1012, stores the contents of r5 at thememory location addressed by the pointer stored in r3. In this example,r3 points to the child list element location 914. Thus, in this example,the child list element location 914 would have the value that formerlywas stored in the parent list element location 818. On a first run ofthe list insertion test segments 126, the value of the parent listelement, and what is stored in child list element location 914 by thestw instruction, is a value of zero. The next instruction, “lwsync/sync”1014, clears all store instructions already executing. In other words,the list insertion process pauses until all pending stores are completedand all out-of-order stores are prohibited. The next instruction, “stwcxr3, r0, r4” 1016, is a “store word conditional indexed” instruction thatstores the content of GPR r3 into the memory location addressed by thepointer stored in GPR r4. As explained above, in this example, the GPRr3 contains the address pointing to the child list element location 914and GPR r4 contains the address pointing to the parent list elementlocation 818. In this example, after the stwcx instruction is completed,the parent list element location 818 (addressed by the pointer stored inr4) contains an address pointing to the child list element location 914(the content stored in r3).

The stwcx instruction 1016 also releases the reservation on parent listelement location 818 that was created by the lwarx instruction 1010. Thestwcx instruction 1016 may only complete if a reservation on the relvantmemory location still exists. The next instruction in the load/storesegment 1000, “bne- -0x10” 1018, determines whether the reservationstill exists, and if so, performs the store operation and releases thereservation. If, however, another process has attempted to write toparent list element location 818 since the reservation was made, thereservation would no longer exist and the stwcx instruction 1016 wouldbe unable to complete. In this case, instructions 1010, 1012, and 1014are repeated until the reservation created by the lwarx instruction 1010remains through the execution of the stwcx instruction 1016 and thestore instruction is completed and the reservation is released. The bneinstruction confirms the stwcx instruction has been completed. The nextinstruction is identical to instruction 920, which branches to thebeginning of the next test code segment which will either be thebeginning of another test case or the beginning of a checking segment1100 discussed in more detail below in reference to FIG. 11.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a checking segment 1100. The checkingsegment 1100 is an optional segment that runs a counter loop to checkthat the linked list has been inserted correctly. The checking segmentoperates by checking the content of a memory address stored in a generalpurpose register that points to the last item inserted in a linked list.In the example of FIGS. 8-10 above, the checking segment would load thecontent of the memory location pointed to in each successive list itemuntil the beginning of the list is reached. As explained above, parentlist element location 818 has an initial value of 0. Thus, once thecontent of the general purpose register is zero, the checking segmentconfirms the list insertion test segments have executed correctly. Thefirst instruction in the checking segment 1100, “addi r3, r0,0 x7fff”1110, places a value of 0x7 fff into GPR r3. This instructioninitializes a counter to a high value, which may be any arbitrary value.Preferably, the value is larger than the length of the linked list thatis inserted using the list insertion and load/store segments.

Continuing with FIG. 11, the next instruction in the checking segment1100, “addi r3, r3, -1” 1112, decrements the counter by a value of one.The next instruction, “tweqi r3, 0” 1114, is a “trap word equalimmediate” instruction that generates a program interrupt when twospecified values are equal. In this example, the instruction comparesthe value stored in GPR r3 and 0 and generates a trap-type programinterrupt if the value in GPR r3 is equal to zero. GPR r3 contains thecounter initialized at instruction 1110. Therefore, in this example, theinstruction will generate a trap-type program interrupt if the checkingsegment loops enough times for the counter to decrement to zero atinstruction 1112. The next instruction, “lwz r4, 0(r4)” 1116, is a “loadword and zero” instruction that loads a word of data from a specifiedlocation in memory into a general purpose register. In this example, theinstruction loads the content of the memory location whose effectiveaddress is stored in GPR r4 and stores that content into GPR r4. Asnoted above, after the load/store segment 1000 is executed, GPR r4contains the address of the parent list element location 818 which, inturn, contains the address of the child list element location 914. Thus,after the execution of the lwz 1116 instruction, GPR r4 will include theaddress of the child list element location 914. The next instruction,“cmpwi cr7, r4,0” 1118, is a “compare immediate” instruction thatcompares specified values and sets a conditional register when the valuestored in GPR r4 is not greater than 0. Thus, as long as the value inGPR r4 is greater than 0, the conditional register is not set. Since theinitial value of the parent list item is 0, the conditional register isset when the beginning of the linked list is reached (and GPR r4 isequal to 0). The next instruction, “bne- -0x10” 1120 checks theconditional register and loops the changing segment 1100 if theconditional register is not set. Otherwise, execution continues with thenext instruction, “bc+112” 1122, which branches to the beginning of thenext test code segment, which may be the beginning of another test case.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of the list insertion test segmentsdiscussed above in a single figure for simplicity. FIG. 12 is intendedto be viewed in conjunction with FIGS. 8, 9, and 10 as described aboveand FIG. 13 as described below. Row and column identifiers have beenadded to allow reference to each memory location. Extraneous memorysegments have been removed from FIG. 12 for simplicity of presentation.FIG. 13 illustrates a memory strand that includes a number of memorysegments, including multiple copies of the list insertion segment andthe load/store segment interspersed in a memory strand that includesother segments.

Referring to FIG. 12, the fixed segment 800 is shown separate from thelist insertion segment 900 and the load/store segment 1000 to indicatethat it is a fixed, known location in memory and is not in memory strand700 (see FIG. 13). The first instruction (column 1, row A) in the listinsertion segment 900 which moves the content of the link register to aGPR, in this example r5. The next instruction, bcl_ea (column 2, row A),causes execution to branch to the fixed segment 800 (column 1, row X).The instruction at this location (column 1, row X) moves the content ofthe link register following the branch operation to a GPR r3. As notedabove, the link register contains an address to return to when afunction call completes. GPR r3 will now hold the address of column 3,row A, which is the next address from the branch instruction. Thus, inthis example, the address stored in GPR r3 points to the child listelement location 914 shown in FIG. 9 and located at column 3, row A. Thenext instruction (column 2, row X) in the fixed segment 800 performs anaddress calculation that adds a value of four to the address stored inGPR r3 and stores the result in GPR r4. In this example, the result ofthe calculation stored in r4 is an address that points to column 4, rowA, the next consecutive memory location to the location pointed to bythe address in r3. The next instruction in fixed segment 800 (column 3,row X) moves the contents of the GPR r4, in this example an addresspointing to the memory location at column 4 row A, to the link register.The next instruction, blrl, branches to the location (column 4, row A)addressed by the contents of the link register. The instruction at thislocation moves the contents of the link register to the GPR r4. In thisexample, the link register, following execution of the branchinstruction, points to the memory location following the location of thebranch instruction, or to column 5, row X. GPR r4 will now hold theaddress of column 5, row X, which is the next address from the branchinstruction. Thus, in this example, the address stored in GPR r3 pointsto the parent list element location 818 shown in FIG. 8 and located atcolumn 5, row X. The next instruction, in memory location at column 5,row A moves the contents of GPR r5 into the link register. The nextinstruction in the list insertion segment 900 is a branch instructionbc+116 (col. 6, row A). This instruction causes execution to advance 116bytes forward to continue with the first instruction of the next segmentof this strand (col. 1, row B), the load/store segment 1000.

Continuing with the example of FIG. 12, the first instruction in theload/store segment 1000 (column 1, row B) is a load word and reserveindexed or “lwarx” instruction that, in this example, loads the word(i.e. the content) from the location in storage specified by the addressstored in GPR r4 (parent list element location 818, column 5, row X)into the target GPR r5. The initial value of the parent list elementlocation 818 is zero. In addition, a reservation on the memory location(parent list element location 818, column 5, row X) is created for useby a subsequent store word conditional indexed (“stwcx”) instruction.The next instruction at column 2, row B is a store word (“stw”)instruction that, in this example, stores the contents of GPR 5(currently holding the contents of memory location at column 5, row X,the parent list element location 818) at the memory location addressedby the content of GPR r3 (the address of the child list element location914, column 3, row A). This effectively moves the content of the parentlist element location 818 (column 5, row X) to the child list elementlocation 914 (column 3, row A). The next instruction at column 3, row B“lwsync/sync” provides an ordering function that ensures completion ofall storage instructions initiated prior to the lwsync/sync, and that nosubsequent instructions initiate until after the lwsync/sync instructioncompletes. When the lwsync/sync instruction completes, all storageaccesses initiated prior to the sync instruction are complete. The nextinstruction at column 4, row B is the stwcx instruction that complementsthe previous lwarx instruction. If the reservation created by a lwarxinstruction exists, the content of GPR r3 is stored into the memorylocation in storage addressed by the address stored in GPR r4 and thereservation is cleared. Otherwise, the storage is not altered. If thestore is performed, the use of the stwcx and lwarx instructions ensuresthat no other processor, process, or mechanism has modified the targetmemory location between the time the lwarx instruction is executed andthe time the stwcx instruction completes. The next instruction at column5, row b is a branch instruction, bne, that determines whether thereservation created by the lwarx instruction is lost and the store notperformed. If the store is not performed, e.g. because another processorattempted to write at the parent list element location 818 between theexecution of the lwarx instruction and the completion of the stwcxinstruction, then the branch instruction executes a loop that restartsthe load/store segment 1000 and re-executes the lwarx instruction incolumn 1, row B. If, however, the reservation exists and the store iscompleted, the next instruction (column 6, row B) causes execution toadvance 116 bytes forward to continue with the first instruction of thenext segment of this strand (col. 1, row C), the checking segment 1100.

Continuing with the example of FIG. 12, the first instruction in thechecking segment 1100 (column 1, row C is an add immediate “addi”instruction that places a high value, in this case 0x7fff) into ageneral purpose register, in this case GPR r3. This instructioninitializes a counter to a high value, which may be any arbitrary value.Preferably, the value is larger than the length of the linked list thatis inserted using the list insertion and load/store segments so that thecounter will not hit zero before the checking segment loops to reach thefirst element in the linked list. The next instruction (column 2, row C)is another addi instruction that adds a value of −1 to the counter valuein the general purpose register. This, in effect, decrements the counterby a value of one. The next instruction (column 3, row D) is a trap wordequal immediate “tweqi” instruction that generates a trap-type programinterrupt if the value in GPR r3 is equal to zero. GPR r3 contains thecounter initialized by the first instruction in the checking segment(column 1, row C). Therefore, in this example, the instruction willgenerate a trap-type program interrupt if the checking segment loopsenough times for the counter to decrement to zero. The next instruction(column 4, row C) is a load word and zero “lwz” instruction that loadsthe content of the memory location whose effective address is stored inGPR r4 and stores that content into GPR r4. As noted above, after theload/store segment 1000 is executed, GPR r4 contains the address of theparent list element location 818 which, in turn, contains the address ofthe child list element location 914. Thus, after the execution of thelwz instruction, GPR r4 will include the address of the child listelement location 914. As the checking segment 1100 loops, the content ofGPR r4 should eventually reach 0, the initial value of the parent listelement location 818. The next instruction (column 5, row C) is acompare immediate “cmpwi” instruction that compares specified values andsets a conditional register when the value in GPR r4 is not greater than0. Since the initial value of the parent list item is 0, the conditionalregister is set when the beginning of the linked list is reached (andGPR r4 is equal to 0). The next instruction (column 6, row C) checks theconditional register and loops the changing segment 1100 if theconditional register is not set. Otherwise, execution continues with thenext instruction (column 7, row C) which branches to the beginning ofthe next test code segment, which may be the beginning of another testcase.

FIG. 13 illustrates another view of a portion of memory 1300 used forstress tests as described herein. FIG. 13 includes the same or similarstrand of memory 700 shown in FIG. 7 where the strand is arranged as asingle block. In FIG. 13, the strand of memory 700 has been modified toinclude list insertion test segments to stress test memory. The listinsertion scenarios are added to the test cases in the strand of memory700 by adding list insertion test segments 126. The list insertion testsegments 126A include a list insertion segment 900A and a load/storesegment 1000A. The list insertion test segments 126B include a listinsertion segment 900B, a load/store segment 1000B, and a checkingsegment 1100B. A fixed segment 800 may be located at a suitable knownlocation in memory and maybe outside the strand of memory 700. The samelist insertion segment 900A, 900B and load/store segment 1000A, 1000Bmay be used by multiple different test cases. The checking segment 1100Bmay be optionally added along with the list insertion and load/storesegments. The list insertion segment 900A, 900B and the load/storesegment 1000A, 1000B and the checking segment 1100B are describedfurther above in reference to FIGS. 9, 10, and 11. In this example,there are two list insertion segments 900A, 900B and load/store segments1000A, 1000B and one checking segment 1100B. The execution of fixedsegment 800, list insertion segments 900A and 900B, and load/storesegments 1000A and 1000B mirrors that described above in reference toFIG. 12.

Referring to FIG. 14, a method 1400 shows one suitable example for anexample of stress testing the list insertion in a processor memory cacheusing segments with non-naturally aligned data boundaries. Portions ofmethod 1400 are preferably performed by the test case generator 123shown in FIG. 1 and the test case executor 214 shown in FIG. 2. First,provide test code for testing a memory in a strand of non-consecutivememory segments with non-naturally aligned data boundaries (step 1410).Next, place a plurality of list insertion test segments interspersedinto the test code segments (step 1420). Execute the test code with theinterspersed list insertion segments and load/store segments to loaddata into registers using a fixed segment at known location (step 1430).Optionally, the inserted linked list is checked to ensure that the listinsertion test segments 126 executed properly (step 1440). Method 1400is then done.

FIG. 15A shows one suitable example of a method 1500 for loading andstoring data into registers and memory words using a list insertionsegment, a load/store segment, and a fixed segment at a known location.Method 1500 thus shows a suitable method for performing step 1430 inmethod 1400 in FIG. 14. FIG. 15A describes an example embodiment of amethod using the list insertion and fixed segments. First, store anaddress in a link register of a computer processor into a generalpurpose register (step 1505) that corresponds to a child list elementlocation, for example memory location 914. Branch to a fixed segment ata known location in memory and store an address of the child listelement location into one of a plurality of general purpose registers(step 1510). Calculate an address to a return memory location in thelist insertion segment consecutive to the list element location (step1515), for example memory location 916. Branch to the return memorylocation in the list insertion segment and store the an address of aparent list element location, for example memory location 818, into ageneral purpose register (step 1520). The method 1500 then continues toA on FIG. 15B.

FIG. 15B continues method 1500 from FIG. 15A and describes an exampleembodiment of a method using the load/store segment. Load from memory alist element stored in a parent list element location (step 1525), forexample memory location 818. Store the parent list element into one of aplurality of general purpose registers (step 1530). Prohibit writeaccess to the parent list element location (step 1535). Store the parentlist element into the child list element location (step 1540). Determinewhether another process attempts to write to the parent list elementlocation (step 1545). If another process has attempted to write to theparent list element location (step 1545: Yes), return to step 1525 andproceed through the method 1500 starting with that step. If no processhas attempted to write to the parent list element location (step 1545:No), store the address pointing to the child list location into theparent list element location (step 1550). Method 1500 is then done. Oneof ordinary skill will understand that this method may be repeatedmultiple times. Assuming the the parent list element location initiallycontains a value of 0, after the first iteration of method 1500, theparent list element location will contain the address of the child listelement location and the child list element location will contain 0.After a second iteration in which a second child list element isintroduced, the parent list element location will contain an address ofa child list element location which will contain the address of thefirst child list element location which will contain 0.

FIG. 16 shows one suitable example of a method 1600 for checking theexecution of list insertion segment 900 and load/store segment 1000.Method 1600 thus shows a suitable method for performing optional step1440 in method 1400 in FIG. 14. Initialize a counter (step 1605), forexample, by storing a high value into a general purpose register.Decrement the counter (step 1610), for example, by subtracting a valueof one from the value stored in the general purpose register. Determinewhether counter is at zero (step 1615). If counter is at zero (step1615: Yes), send an interrupt to an interrupt handler (step 1620). Anysuitable method of exiting the method/process may be used and one ofordinary skill may understand that any number of other mechanisms may beused to prevent an endless loop. In this example, a high value counterdecremented to zero is used.

Continuing with the method of FIG. 16, if the counter is not at zero, orhas not been decremented to zero, (step 1615: No), load the content atthe parent memory location stored in the general purpose register atstep 1520 of FIG. 15A, described above and store the content in the samegeneral purpose register (step 1625). As an example of step 1625, referto the example of FIG. 12: the lwz instruction loads the content at theaddress stored in GPR r4, which is the address of parent list elementlocation (column 6, row X; parent list element location 818 of FIG. 8).Parent list element location contains an address of child list elementlocation (column 3, row A; child list element location 914 of FIG. 9).Thus, the result of the lwz instruction is that the address of the childlist element is inserted into GPR r4. Determine whether the content ofGPR r4 is greater than zero. If the content is greater than zero (step1630: Yes), the method 1600 loops steps 1610-1625. As the checkingsegment loops, the content of GPR r4 eventually reaches the firstelement of the list, which is the initial value of 0. When this happens,the content of GPR r4 is not greater than zero (step 1630: No), and themethod 1600 is done.

The disclosure and claims herein relate to a system and method forstress testing a memory using list insertion test segments withnon-naturally aligned data boundaries. List insertion test segments areinterspersed into test code of a processor memory tests to insert listelements of a linked list into processor memory.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimesbe executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionalityinvolved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagramsand/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the blockdiagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by specialpurpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions oracts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computerinstructions.

Moreover, a system according to various embodiments may include aprocessor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor,the logic being configured to perform one or more of the process stepsrecited herein. By integrated with, what is meant is that the processorhas logic embedded therewith as hardware logic, such as an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array(FPGA), etc. By executable by the processor, what is meant is that thelogic is hardware logic; software logic such as firmware, part of anoperating system, part of an application program; etc., or somecombination of hardware and software logic that is accessible by theprocessor and configured to cause the processor to perform somefunctionality upon execution by the processor. Software logic may bestored on local and/or remote memory of any memory type, as known in theart. Any processor known in the art may be used, such as a softwareprocessor module and/or a hardware processor such as an ASIC, a FPGA, acentral processing unit (CPU), an integrated circuit (IC), a graphicsprocessing unit (GPU), etc.

It will be clear that the various features of the foregoing systemsand/or methodologies may be combined in any way, creating a plurality ofcombinations from the descriptions presented above.

It will be further appreciated that embodiments of the present inventionmay be provided in the form of a service deployed on behalf of acustomer to offer service on demand.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method executed byat least one processor for testing a computer processor comprising:providing test code in a plurality of segments with non-naturallyaligned boundaries; interspersing a plurality of list insertion testsegments with non-naturally aligned boundaries into the test codesegments by: providing a plurality of list insertion segments; providinga plurality of load/store segments; and wherein each list insertionsegment branches to a fixed segment that determines a first list elementlocation and includes a second list element location, and wherein eachload/store segment loads a list element stored in the second listelement location and stores the list element in the first list elementlocation; and executing the test code with the interspersed listinsertion test segments to insert a list element into at least one of aplurality of list element locations using a fixed segment stored at afixed location on the computer processor.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising determining the first list element location by:storing an address to a next consecutive memory location contained in alink register of the computer processor into one of a plurality ofgeneral purpose registers of the computer processor; branching to thefixed segment and storing an address to the first list element locationcontained in the link register into a second of the plurality of generalpurpose registers; calculating an address to a return memory locationconsecutive to the first list element location and storing the returnmemory location to the link register; and branching to the return memorylocation and restoring the address to the next consecutive memorylocation to the link register.
 3. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising inserting the list element in the first list element locationby: loading from memory a list element stored in the second list elementlocation and storing the list element into one of the plurality ofgeneral purpose registers; storing the list element into the first listelement location; and storing the address to the first list elementlocation into the second list element location.
 4. The method of claim3, further comprising, after storing the list element into one of theplurality of general purpose registers, prohibiting write access to thesecond list element location.
 5. The method of claim 4, furthercomprising: determining whether another process attempts to write to thesecond list element location after write access has been prohibited; ifanother process has attempted to write the list element after writeaccess has been prohibited, performing the steps of loading from memorythe list element, prohibiting write access to the second list elementlocation, and determining whether another process attempts to write tothe second list element location until no process attempts to write tothe second list element location after write access has been prohibited;and before storing the address to the first list element location intothe second list element location, enabling write access to the secondlist element location.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprisingproviding at least one checking segment.
 7. The method of claim 6,further comprising successively checking each list element inserted intomemory to confirm that the list insertion segment and load/storesegments executed correctly.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the fixedsegment is located outside the test code and used by a plurality of testcases.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein non-naturally aligned meansends of the segments when placed end-to-end with another segment do notfall on a natural boundary that is a number of the form 2n.
 10. Acomputer-implemented method executed by at least one processor fortesting a computer processor comprising: providing test code in aplurality of segments with non-naturally aligned boundaries;interspersing a plurality of list insertion test segments that havenon-naturally aligned boundaries into the test code segments comprising:providing a plurality of list insertion segments; providing a pluralityof load/store segments; wherein each list insertion segment branches toa fixed segment that determines a first list element location and thatincludes a second list element location, and wherein each load/storesegment that loads a list element stored in the second list elementlocation, stores the list element in the first list element location;executing the test code with the interspersed list insertion testsegments to insert a list element into at least one of a plurality oflist element locations using a fixed segment stored at a fixed locationon the computer processor; and determining the second list elementlocation by: storing an address to a next consecutive memory locationcontained in a link register of the computer processor into one of aplurality of general purpose registers of the computer processor;branching to the fixed segment and storing an address to the first listelement location contained in the link register into a second of theplurality of general purpose registers; calculating an address to areturn memory location consecutive to the first list element locationand storing the return memory location to the link register; andbranching to the return memory location, wherein after branching thelink register contains an address a second list element location;storing the address of the second list element location into the secondof the plurality of general purpose register; and restoring the addressto the next consecutive memory location to the link register.
 11. Themethod of claim 10, further comprising: loading from memory a listelement stored in the second list element location and storing the listelement into one of the plurality of general purpose registers; storingthe list element into the first list element location, wherein the listelement is equal to zero; prohibiting write access to the second listelement location; determining whether another process attempts to writeto the second list element location after write access has beenprohibited; if another process has attempted to write to the listelement after write access has been prohibited, performing the steps ofloading from memory the list element, prohibiting write access to thesecond list element location, and determining whether another processattempts to write to the second list element location until no processattempts to write to the first list element location after write accesshas been prohibited; and if no process has attempted to write to thesecond list element location after write access has been prohibited,enabling write access to the second list element location; storing theaddress to the first list element location into the second list elementlocation; initializing a counter at a high value; decrementing thecounter; on a condition that the counter does not equal zero, retrievingdata from a memory location, wherein an address for the memory locationis stored in the second of the plurality of general purpose registersand storing the data in the second of the plurality of general purposeregisters; determining whether the data in the second of the pluralityof general purpose registers greater than zero; repeating thedecrementing, retrieving, and determining steps until either the data inthe second of the plurality of general purpose registers is not greaterthan zero, or; the counter equals equal zero; and on a condition thecounter equals zero, sending an interrupt to an interrupt handler,wherein test code with the non-naturally aligned segments have sevenwords of test code comprising one single word sub-segment, one doubleword sub-segment and one quad word sub-segment, wherein non-naturallyaligned means ends of the segments when placed end-to-end with anothersegment do not fall on a natural boundary that is a number of the form2n.